“I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but I almost always wind up where I need to be.”-Douglas Adams

“There still is no cure for the common birthday.”–John Glenn

The Millennium Conjectures™ turns one today. On May 23, 2012 my life was in turmoil. My father had just passed away, one of my best friends was in the process of being diagnosed with an incurable cancer and I was feeling more than a bit burned out. Was this the cure? Life still has its vicissitudes, but I am certainly doing a lot better than a year ago. This blog has helped, and it has survived. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, it hasn’t always gone where I thought it would go, but it has always gone where I needed it to be. Amazingly, I have amassed a decent sized audience and have received no death threats or arrest warrants. And as there is no truism greater than the John Glenn quote above, I will relentlessly keep going where I need to be, as long as I am still breathing. Below is the first post from one year ago today. Where has it taken me? Where has it taken you?

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May 23, 2012: What is This?

These are my musings, both ridiculous and sublime. I would have made “Ridiculous and Sublime” the primary title of this blog, but I am vain. I want some semblance of uniqueness and there are many other bloggers using this theme. But I will explain both title and subtitle before proceeding.

So what are Millennium Conjectures? I’ll explain that in a bit as well. But first, I present a word about the overall content and nature of my posts. And why I, and my posts, are both ridiculous and sublime.

This is not a personal journal. Who would be interested in reading my personal journal online? I wouldn’t even be interested. No, these are musings, observations and conjectures from a journalistic standpoint, a way of looking at things you might find interesting or funny. You might also find some silly and trivial. I do have some past background in both broadcast and print journalism, but that is not my professional livelihood these days; I do this for the satisfaction and outlet.

So—I’ll get back to the subtitle.

Let’s face it: I am both ridiculous and sublime. To start with, the two most famous people whose birthday I share (October 2) are Mohandas Gandhi and Groucho Marx.

Gandhi

What could be more sublime and ridiculous than those two? And to boot, the most famous thing, arguably, that happened on the very day of my birth (Oct 2, 1950), was the appearance of the very first syndicated Peanuts cartoon. Good ‘ol Charlie Brown was born the same day as me. He is most certainly a perfect blending of the two qualities we are talking about. Wishy-washy? Maybe. But that is only because he is so torn by these conflicting aspects of the universe that surrounds him. Yes, the silly and profound seem both to be bound into my DNA.

Content herein will then consist of both the trivial/silly (WheresGeorge.com, history of CT license plates, Pearls Before Swine) and the profound (Quantum Physics, Cosmology, Existentialism, Opera and the philosophy of science). There will also be topics that engender a bit of both characteristics; baseball, for example, and especially baseball statistics. Yes, Baseball is a game, but as George Will so astutely observed, “if baseball is just a game, then the Grand Canyon is just a hole in the ground.” This will happen solely because my cluttered mind embraces all of these endeavors, and for some strange reason, I think that somewhere out there one or two people might be interested in my insights.

So, back to the Millenium Conjectures. My posts will be marked as either Ridiculous or Sublime or Ridiculous AND Sublime. The lion’s share of the Sublime category—indeed of all the content– will be a series I call The Millenium Conjectures. These will deal with my views and speculations on the nature of reality, the universe and scientific philosophy. Everything else will be a time-out to blow off steam. But lest my head explode, let alone yours, this is enough for now.

I sincerely believe, in the depths of my soul, that if one cannot continue to be silly, especially as one ages, one might as well go live under the stairs in someone else’s basement. Carry on, good man. You’re doing fine.

Happy birthday, MC! I brought cake 🙂 (really, I didn’t, but we could head back to foodforfun for a piece–thinking there’s still leftover from my pony cake post) For real, though, am glad putting your words out there has helped you this past year. Good to find ways to get ourselves through, and even better when they bring other folks into your fold. Best to you 🙂